You Belong With Me
by EspacioSideral
Summary: What if Blaine had transferred to McKinley instead of Dalton after the Sadie Hawkins dance? And what if he met Kurt there, but he was already dating someone else?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hi everyone! I am back with a new story. This deviates from canon after Laryngitis (way back in Season 1). I have most of it written already, so hopefully the updates will be pretty quick! It is more angsty than I intended (I just have a lot of Blaine feelings!) but I promise the ending will be much happier than my last fic haha. Let me know what you think, either here or on tumblr! And as always, thanks for reading 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, the characters, any of the songs used in this story, or any of the lines stolen directly from canon!**

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><p>As soon as the bell rang at McKinley High School, students burst from every door and flooded the hallways. Blaine Anderson, however, didn't move from his seat outside of the main office, keeping his eyes firmly trained on the cheap linoleum floor between his sneakers. From what he had seen so far, this public school wasn't much different from his last one, other than the lockers being painted red instead of green. None of the kids walking to class gave him a second glance; he was invisible here. He slouched his shoulders a few inches further, feeling even more insignificant than usual. That was the whole point of transferring, though, right? As he had learned the hard way at Huntsville High, being unknown was much better than being hated and ridiculed. He didn't have any friends left at his old school, so McKinley wouldn't be much different in that respect. He still wouldn't have anyone to pass notes with in class or sit with at lunch, but now at least he would have a good reason for not having any friends. The last time anyone at Huntsville had talked to him, besides insulting or taunting him, had been over a month ago, before Tyler left and before that stupid dance.<p>

Blaine took a deep breath and put one hand up to his face, rubbing his eyes, careful to avoid the still healing bruise on his left cheekbone. He was very thankful he had gotten his cast off two days earlier; that certainly would have attracted unwanted attention, something Blaine was planning to avoid at all costs here. If he wasn't careful, things would turn out the same way as they had a few weeks ago, leading to an emergency hospital visit, and subsequent time spent at home healing and hiding. He subconsciously reached over to rub his wrist, which had fractured when he hit the pavement that night. He shook his head, trying to avoid reliving the kicks to his stomach, and Tyler's pleas from somewhere beside him.

Blaine finally looked up at the students in the hallway, searching for any distraction from those memories. A boy a few inches taller than him stood at the set of lockers closest to Blaine's current seat. He had one hand on his hip and the other holding a worn messenger bag. He glanced around the hallways, which started to empty as the next period approached, eyes passing right over Blaine. He then quickly grabbed a can of hairspray from somewhere deep in his locker, and adjusted his light brown hair in a small mirror. Blaine's eyes were drawn downward to the boy's outfit, particularly his jeans, which were a little too tightly fitted for a typical high school male, and, if Blaine wasn't mistaken, looked to be designer. 'Hmm,' he thought, 'maybe I won't be so alone in this new school.'

From the corner of his eye, Blaine caught a flash of red, and turned to see who was coming down the hallway, half expecting it to be a hulking guy in a letterman jacket ready to shove the kid with the tight jeans to the ground. Instead, he found himself looking at a tall, blond cheerleader with a very high ponytail and a very short skirt. She called out, "Kurt!" and literally skipped up to the boy at the locker, chattering away as soon as she arrived. He smiled when he saw the girl through his mirror, and turned to face her as he shut his locker door. She kissed his cheek lightly, before grabbing his hand and pulling him away, presumably to their next class. Blaine's eyes widened and he froze when the boy made eye contact with him as he passed by, tilting his head as if he was trying to place him. His eyes were the prettiest blue Blaine had ever seen and he felt his breath catch in his throat. Then the blond started telling an animated story about a unicorn and someone named Lord Tubbington and the other boy (Kurt, he reminded himself) turned his attention back to her as they walked out of Blaine's sight, their fingers still laced together.

Blaine let out a large sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, just as his parents finally emerged through the glass doors. He got up to greet them and find out how the meeting went, hoping all of his transfer papers had gone through successfully. As they walked down the hallway, in the opposite direction of Kurt, he thought to himself, 'Either those jerks broke my gaydar along with my wrist, or this school is even more closeted than the one I just left.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who already put this story on alert and reviewed the first chapter! Hope you enjoy this update, and everyone in the U.S. have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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><p>Blaine had been a McKinley student for all of six minutes before he got lost. The apathetic secretary had wordlessly handed him his schedule and locker combination from a pile on her desk before returning to the game of solitaire on her computer. His locker number was 468, but he had been up and down the hallway three times already and was still no closer to finding it, never mind making it to his first class on time. He inspected the rows of lockers once more, watching the numbers go from 399 to 500. Where did an entire set of lockers disappear to? He cautiously inspected the other students in the hallway, careful not to make eye contact with anyone, especially not the high-fiving guys in hockey jerseys. He spotted a round-faced girl with dark hair standing at her locker a few feet away and took a deep breath before slowly approaching her. "Excuse me?" he asked quietly, "Um, do you know where locker 468 is? I can't seem to find any of the 400's…"<p>

She smiled and answered, "Yeah, it's a really dumb set-up, but those lockers are actually down a different hallway." She looked closer at him and, after a pause, asked, "Are you a new student?" Blaine nodded and handed over his schedule into her outstretched hand. "Oh, you have English first period? Artie does, too. I can walk you there and we can stop at your locker on the way."

"That would be great," Blaine answered, feeling some of the tension leave his body, instead filling with relief that he had found a nice person to help him on his first day. "Um… sorry, but who is Artie?"

"Oh," she laughed, "Artie is my boyfriend. I usually meet him here in the mornings. I'm Tina by the way," she smiled again.

"Nice to meet you," he replied. "I'm Blaine."

"Did you just transfer here?" she asked.

"Yeah, from Huntsville," he responded, silently dreading the question he knew was coming next. He hadn't quite figured out what to tell people as his reason for leaving his old school. Admitting that he was beaten up for being gay would defeat the whole purpose of starting over somewhere new.

He was saved for now, though, as Tina squealed, "Ooh, here he comes!" Blaine looked down the hall and felt his jaw drop slightly when he saw the wheelchair, but the couple was too busy greeting each other to notice. Tina gave Artie a kiss on the cheek and blushed before turning to Blaine, saying, "Artie, this is Blaine, he just transferred here. Blaine, this is my boyfriend, Artie." The boy in the sweater vest just smiled and stuck out his fist, which Blaine bumped after a brief hesitation. He tried not to focus on the chair or the other boy's immobile legs, as he knew how it felt to have people constantly staring at him in public. At least his bruises had healed and his cast was temporary; Artie probably wasn't so lucky.

Blaine followed Tina and Artie down a different hallway, glancing at his watch and hoping his classroom wasn't too far. The two of them chatted away, while Blaine tried to keep up and remember all the turns they were taking. He silently wondered if he just got lucky with asking for help, or if people at this school were miraculously kinder than what he was accustomed to. As he watched a tall kid with a Mohawk trip a short boy with a large fro, Blaine had to assume it was the former.

Tina greeted a few people as they went, but Blaine took no notice, until he heard the one name he knew at this school, other than his two new acquaintances. He looked up just in time to see a perfectly styled head of brown hair nod in their direction. Blaine took in the boy's outfit today: dark jeans and a fitted button up shirt that matched his blue eyes. Kurt just kept walking after a quick sideways glance in Blaine's direction, but Artie was looking at Blaine with a tilted head. Blaine mentally cursed himself for already being so careless, as the other boy questioned, "Do you know Kurt?"

"Um, I ran into him the other day when I was here for a meeting," Blaine answered casually, hoping he wouldn't actually ask Kurt about it.

"Oh, cool," Artie replied, seeming to buy his story. "He's in Glee club with us." Blaine's eyes lit up at the mention of glee club, but Artie was already turned back to his girlfriend. Blaine loved to sing and had been in chorus at his old school, but he wasn't sure if extracurriculars were the best idea at McKinley, at least for the remaining months of classes. His goal was to blend in and survive until summer vacation; the fewer people who knew his name, the better. What he wouldn't give some days, though, to lose himself in a song. When he was performing, all of his worries and insecurities seemed to melt away. It had been so long since he had felt that carefree.

He was lost in thought and almost ran right into Artie's wheelchair when they stopped abruptly. Tina pointed out his locker on the left, offering helpful tips for working the finicky lock. When Blaine turned back around, Tina was yelling, "See you at lunch!" as her black dress headed away from them. Artie was looking at Blaine expectantly. "Our English classroom is right over here," he motioned down yet another corridor. Blaine smiled and thought, 'At least I managed to be on time,' just as the bell rang. Blaine jumped and Artie winced. They managed to slip in the back door of the classroom right before the teacher started speaking. Blaine took a deep breath as he sunk into the last desk in the row, hoping once again that no one would even notice he was there. It was easier and safer that way.


	3. Chapter 3

Blaine was tempted to find Tina in the cafeteria, even though he knew she had been talking to Artie when she called out, "See you at lunch," but in the end he ate his sandwich in an empty classroom. He knew firsthand how awful those 45 minutes could be when you didn't have any friends, and he didn't want to make the mistake of sitting at the wrong table on his first day. The good thing about eating lunch alone was that it was a lot quicker, which gave him plenty of time to find his Spanish classroom. He even arrived before the teacher, sitting down in a desk near the back. Students slowly began to file in, chatting with their friends and paying no more attention to Blaine than if he was just another chair.

Blaine focused on deciphering the various carvings on his desk, but froze when he noticed a familiar blue shirt sit down in front of him. He sank down further in his seat as the teacher arrived, hoping to avoid being noticed by Kurt or anyone else. The teacher looked down at a paper on his desk, before announcing, "¡Tenemos un estudiante nuevo hoy! ¿Dónde está Blaine Anderson?" He didn't know very much Spanish, but Blaine gathered that the teacher was asking for him and slowly raised his hand a few inches, keeping his head down and already resenting this teacher for calling attention to him. The half of the class that wasn't asleep or staring at the clock turned to look at the new kid, including the blue-eyed boy in front of him. Kurt's eyes widened in recognition, before he turned back around in his seat and opened his notebook. Luckily one of the jocks took that moment to throw a paper airplane across the room, so Mr. Schuester's attention, along with most of the class, was diverted away after only a few seconds.

Blaine exhaled in relief, both at his return to anonymity and that he didn't actually have to speak in front of the class. Most of these kids had probably already forgotten his name, if they were even listening in the first place. After spending most of the class period attempting to get the students to repeat phrases that he spoke, the teacher wrote the words "proyecto grupo" on the board. Kurt groaned, but most students continued staring blankly towards the front of the classroom until Mr. Schuester said, "Group projects. You will be working en pareja – in pairs – with the person sitting behind or in front of you." He passed out a paper detailing the guidelines as he walked around the room, continuing to explain the project. Blaine looked behind him to the wall, and felt his heart leap when he turned back around to see Kurt staring at him with a frown on his face. "Supongo que estamos un grupo. Soy Kurt. ¿Eres Blaine, sí? Te vi con Tina y Artie esta mañana." Blaine stared at him for a moment before responding, "Uh…sí, me llamo es Blaine…"

Kurt rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like, "This is why I hate assigned partners."

"Uh, que?" asked Blaine. Kurt just shook his head and said, "Okay, I take it you're not great at Spanish. Personally, I'm pretty fabulous at languages, so I can just do most of the project, don't worry about it."

"No, no, I want to help!" Blaine protested. At his old school, he had often been the kid forced to complete most of the work for group projects and he didn't want to do that to Kurt, even if he self-admittedly was terrible at Spanish. "I took German at my other school but they don't offer that here and this is the only language class that fit into my schedule. But I will work really hard, I swear."

Kurt seemed to take this into consideration and scribbled down his email address on a scrap of paper that he handed to Blaine. "Bien," he responded tersely. "I appreciate the effort, but I won't have you bringing down my grade. Look over the rubric and send me some ideas." Before Blaine could open his mouth again, the bell rang and Kurt was out of his seat. Blaine only caught a brief glimpse of his messenger bag before it disappeared around the corner of the door, ahead of all of the other students.


	4. Chapter 4

By the end of the week, Blaine was starting to feel a little more confident in his routine at McKinley, although he still kept mostly to himself. Tina waved to him when they passed in the hall, and Artie always saved him a seat in English class, but besides that he didn't interact much with the other students, and he intended to keep it that way. He justified his empty classroom lunch habit not as cowardice but as intelligence – it gave him more time to study and get to his next class, and he avoided unnecessary confrontation with other kids. He was once again going over these reasons in his head as he walked to the usual classroom. He looked both ways down the hallway before rounding the corner, and then froze when he heard voices coming towards him, just out of sight beyond the lockers.

"Brit, I got your text, what happened?" Of course it would be that voice, Blaine sighed quietly. If there was one person at this school he really didn't want to find out that he ate lunch alone in an empty geometry classroom every day, it was his Spanish partner. Blaine snuck a little closer and peered around the corner to see Kurt squatting down next to the same blonde cheerleader from last week.

"Well, after my class I thought I saw a fairy. So I followed it up here to see if it would lead me to Peter Pan and teach me how to fly, but then I figured out it was just a really big mosquito. And I didn't remember how to get back to the cafeteria from here." Kurt rubbed his face with his hands and didn't say anything for a minute. "Are you upset the fairy is gone, too?" the girl looked up at him and asked. Blaine didn't know what to make of this cheerleader, with her wide-eyed, innocent appearance as she talked about seeing fairies as if it was an everyday occurrence.

"Yes, because fairy dust is just what I need to help my reputation," Kurt answered sarcastically as he helped the girl to her feet. She scrunched her forehead and looked at him with a baffled expression that was still somehow adorable. "Never mind, Boo, let's go to lunch," Kurt replied, holding tightly to her hand.

Blaine backed up next to the lockers and exhaled, feeling very glad he hadn't been caught. And then his heart went from beating too fast to stopping completely as Kurt and his girlfriend rounded the corner and almost bumped directly into him.

"Blaine? What are you doing here?" Kurt asked sharply, his eyes narrowing. Blaine scrambled to create a logical excuse as he hastily tried to shove his brown bag behind his back. It seemed he was too slow, however, as Kurt glanced down at the offending object and his face softened immediately. "C'mon, amigo. Brittany and I are heading to the cafeteria." Blaine just nodded and reminded himself to breathe. He glanced one more time at Kurt, who was staring back at him patiently, before following the two of them down the staircase.

When they reached the cafeteria, Blaine hesitated for a second, steeling himself to walk through the heavy metal doors. Kurt seemed to pick up on this action immediately, as he turned and gave him a reassuring smile before Brit dragged him into the room. Blaine followed quickly behind them, figuring that walking by himself into the café would be much worse than going with Kurt and Brittany. He followed them to a table; the end they sat at was empty, but the other end contained what seemed to be half of the cheerleading squad. Blaine slouched down in his seat as he subtly surveyed the rest of the students. He was surprised to see Tina waving from a few tables away, and Artie raising his hand in what was either a peace sign or some sort of gang symbol.

"Sometimes we sit with the other glee kids," Kurt said when he noticed Blaine's gaze. "But Brit likes to rotate between tables." Blaine just nodded and peered to the other end of their table, where Brittany had her arm around a tan girl with dark, shiny hair wearing the same cheerleading uniform.

"Between you and me," Kurt continued, "You're lucky she picked this table today. The glee kids are like a dysfunctional family. They can be kind of a lot to handle at once, especially on your first trip to the McKinley café."

"Tina and Artie seemed really nice," Blaine argued, wanting to defend the first two people to help him at this school. "Wait, how did you know I hadn't been to lunch before?"

"Next time you should try to hide the panic a little better when someone catches you on the third floor with a brown bag poorly hidden behind your back," Kurt retorted with a laugh. "And for the record, the astronomy classroom in the East hallway is a much better hideout at this time of day."

Blaine just nodded again as he bit into his sandwich, still unsure if he was glad that Kurt had dragged him to the cafeteria. He almost felt like a normal student, sitting with a friend at lunch, if he could even call Kurt a friend at this point. Blaine seemed to blend in well enough with his plain jeans and t-shirt, but he still felt kind of exposed on the cafeteria bench. At least Kurt seemed to be fairly popular, if the cheerleading girlfriend was any indication. He wasn't sure the same could be said of the other glee kids. Between Tina's goth outfits and Artie's wheelchair, he couldn't imagine them being treated very well at a public school. He turned his attention back to his own table to find Kurt silently looking at him as he ate his salad.

"So why did you transfer here so late in the year?" Kurt asked. Blaine instantly regretted his choice to leave his safe, empty classroom as soon as those words left the other boy's mouth.

"I, uh, got into a fight with some kids at my old school and um… decided to leave," he stared down at the fake wood table as he answered, intentionally leaving out the part about him being gay, and the hospital visit, and the fact that it was less of a fight and more of a six on two beating.

"Are you a dolphin, too?" a pretty voice asked, and Blaine looked over to find Brittany back on their side of the table with that same naïve expression. "I'm going to make a dolphin sanctuary to keep all of the high school dolphins safe. I love dolphins. Do you like dolphins?" she looked over at Blaine.

"Um… yes?" Blaine answered hesitantly. This seemed to be the correct answer as the girl smiled brightly before returning to her own lunch, which apparently consisted solely of sprinkles and green m&m's. He quickly glanced between the girl and Kurt, whose eyes were crinkling as he held his hand over his mouth, trying to hold in a laugh.

"I think that sounds like a great idea, Boo," Kurt responded after a minute, patting her hand and sending Blaine the first real smile he had seen from the boy since they had met. Blaine couldn't help but return it with a huge grin of his own.


	5. Chapter 5

Blaine was glad to have a few days off from school when the weekend arrived, but by Sunday evening he was ready to get out of the house again. He had spent too much time recovering at home in the weeks after the Sadie Hawkins dance; that was the one reason he had been glad to enroll at McKinley. This weekend it wasn't his mom coddling over his injuries that drove him up the wall, though. Instead, it was his father inquiring about every little detail of his new school, from the courses, to the sports teams, to the extracurricular activities. If he had to answer one more question about the quality of the linoleum in the hallways or the edition of his history textbook, he was going to bang his head against the kitchen wall, recent concussion and all. He used the excuse of studying to escape after dinner that night, his parents unaware that he had finished all of his homework the afternoon before. He had even spent some time brainstorming for his Spanish project, although Kurt hadn't responded to his email. He would just have to hope the other boy showed up a few minutes early to class so they could discuss his ideas, or at least find a time to get together to work on it.

Back at school on Monday, Blaine spent most of his chemistry lecture debating whether to brave the cafeteria again. He still hadn't made up his mind when the bell rang, and he exited his classroom to find his Spanish partner leaning against the nearest set of lockers, wearing a dark red polo and slim brown pants. "Jeans and those old sneakers again, Blaine? We need to work on your wardrobe," Kurt announced with a smirk as Blaine walked up to him.

"I guess this answers my question of what to do for lunch today," Blaine muttered with a resigned sigh.

Kurt nudged his shoulder and replied, "I wasn't letting you hide in an empty classroom again! I know how much it sucks to have no one to eat with." Blaine looked over quickly, but didn't have the chance to ask this gorgeous, popular guy when he had ever been in that situation as Brittany flounced over to them and kissed Kurt on the ear.

"Blaine, are you eating with us again today? I brought an extra lollipop just in case." She linked arms with him as they walked into the cafeteria, steering him towards the glee kids in the corner of the room. Blaine wasn't sure what to do and attempted to twist to look back at Kurt. The other boy seemed unconcerned with Blaine's discomfort, simply shrugging and smiling as he followed them to the table.

"Hey everyone, this is my new friend, Blaine," Brittany announced. "Kurt found him on Friday when I was looking for Peter Pan." Blaine blinked a few times at her explanation as he tried to pull away from her arm and the attention it directed at him. The rest of the table, however, seemed unfazed by her behavior. They smiled and offered their introductions to Blaine, who slipped into a seat next to Tina.

Kurt promptly joined him on the cafeteria bench and gave his own commentary on the glee kids Blaine didn't know, from the pregnant blond girl with the delicate nose, to the black girl in the bright purple hoodie. Blaine was just trying to follow along and remember all of the new names when the one who he thought was called Rachel addressed him loudly. "So, Blaine, is it? Where did you transfer from? Do you sing?"

"Rachel, let the boy eat his sandwich in peace," proclaimed Kurt, rolling his eyes as he grabbed another piece of celery.

"Um, it's alright," responded Blaine quickly. "Um, I like to sing and I was in chorus at my old school in Huntsville, but…"

She cut him off before he could continue. "Well, you should join the New Directions. I can always use more back-up singers, particularly males."

Now Kurt wasn't the only one glaring at the Jewish girl, but this time it was Tina who spoke up. "Don't listen to Rachel – she's not the only one who gets solos. Glee is really fun though if you want to join. We can always use more members." She smiled at him, as Artie and the black girl nodded enthusiastically.

The only one who didn't seem to agree was the pregnant girl – Quinn? Gwen? She crossed her arms and exclaimed coolly, "Yeah, I mean it would be great for us to have more people, but I don't think Blaine really wants to be slushied his second week of school. He at least deserves a chance not to be dragged to the lowest ranks of the social chain along with the rest of us."

"Hey, it's been much better lately, Puck and Finn have really gotten the other guys to cool off. It's been two weeks since my last slushie…" someone was arguing, but Blaine had already zoned out. He had been seriously considering glee club, but the last thing he needed was a giant target on his back for a whole new set of bullies. He didn't know what being slushied entailed, but he was certainly not in a hurry to find out. As much as he was starting to like these kids and would love to belong as part of their group, he was determined to avoid being in a situation like at Huntsville. Although at least it seemed these glee kids stuck together – the worst part of his previous incident was facing it all alone, especially after Tyler left.

Blaine then noticed that Kurt hadn't joined the discussion with the rest of his friends; instead he was staring at Blaine with a pensive expression. Blaine took a sip of his milk as he pushed those dark thoughts away, grasping onto the first topic he could think of. "Um, so did you get my email about Schuester's class?" he asked quietly, ignoring the increasing volume of the rest of the table's conversation.

"Ugh, sometimes that man comes up with the worst assignments," Kurt complained. Blaine sat a little straighter as they continued to discuss the project through the remaining minutes of lunch. By the time they walked into class, he and Kurt had plans to get together later in the week to work on Spanish, and Blaine had almost forgotten about the bullying discussion at lunch.


	6. Chapter 6

Kurt and Blaine's plans to work on their project turned out to be unnecessary; Mr. Schuester gave them the entire class period on Wednesday to get together with their group members. Blaine always had secretly wondered if teachers did this just to get out of lecturing for the day, but as he glanced around at the other students, many of whom seemed to be meeting their partners for the first time, he conceded that it was essential for this class. Kurt had already pulled out his notebook and moved his desk around so he was facing Blaine. He turned to the page with their brainstorming from earlier in the week and pushed it towards Blaine, whose breath caught in his throat as his partner leaned even closer.

"So, we talked about doing a video," Kurt began, staring down at the notebook and oblivious to Blaine's reaction. He chewed on the tip of his pen as he pondered their list of ideas, which only made Blaine stare even more intently. After a few seconds of silence, Kurt looked up at Blaine just as the boy finally forced himself to look away from his classmate. Blaine cleared his throat as he again settled his gaze on Kurt and answered, "Uh, well the guidelines do say to be creative…"

Kurt nodded and carefully suggested, "What do you think about maybe doing some sort of skit?"

"Yeah, that would be cool!" Blaine replied with a grin. Kurt gave him a small smile in return before Blaine was struck with an even better idea. "Hey, wait. You sing, right? What if we did a musical number?"

"Really?" asked Kurt, as he sat up straighter in his seat, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, I mean, isn't he your glee teacher, too? Hopefully that will get us some bonus points," Blaine answered, catching some of Kurt's excitement.

"It will definitely be way better than whatever the rest of these kids come up with. They'll probably just end up reading a sloppy script about their favorite sports teams, while wearing their usual uninspired outfits. Ooh, costumes! We definitely need costumes. I'll have to go to the fabric store but I'm sure I can pull something together and," Kurt stopped mid sentence and leaned back, eyes wide as he glanced over at Blaine. "I mean, if that's okay with you, otherwise we don't have to…"

"No, that sounds great!" Blaine answered quickly, unsure why Kurt had cut himself off like that. "Personally, I'm not great with designing or anything, so you can definitely handle that part, if you want."

Kurt sighed and relaxed his posture, tilting towards his partner again, "Okay, so then we need a theme. Preferably something that we can easily translate, or at least somehow relates to Spanish…" He was staring down at their list of notes again as he scribbled their new ideas at the bottom.

"What about, um, _West Side Story_?" Blaine asked meekly, watching for Kurt's reaction. "I mean, some of that is already in Spanish and it's definitely relevant because-" The rest of whatever he was planning to say was unnecessary because Kurt practically jumped out of his seat at the suggestion, and Blaine was sure he heard a squeal from the other boy. Kurt wasn't even looking at him now as he exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, how did I not think of that? It is totally perfect for this project. We can do a whole scene of the Sharks, or maybe one of us can be a Shark and the other a Jet, and I have the perfect costume idea. And we can incorporate one of the songs – you said you can sing, right?" Kurt said suddenly, turning back to Blaine again, although the grin didn't leave his face, and Blaine could tell the wheels were still turning in the other boy's head. Blaine, consumed in Kurt's rapid planning, was caught off guard by the question, and mumbled, "Um, yeah, it's been awhile since I've sung on my own in front of people but…"

He wasn't even sure if Kurt heard the end of his sentence, as he had flipped the page and was furiously sketching costume and set ideas, which apparently included scaffolding and some type of sword. Blaine simply shook his head and was content just observing his partner, who continued to blurt out ideas that were getting more and more outrageous. By the time class ended, Blaine was pretty sure Kurt had written down the details for the entire full length musical, even though this project was worth even less than last week's quiz on past tense verbs. For once, Kurt wasn't the first student to rush out of the room at the sound of the bell. Instead he was still gesturing enthusiastically to Blaine about choreography as he repositioned his desk and grabbed his jacket.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay on this chapter - thanks so much to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, and reblogging, especially Tatters5, perchance to wake, and xsilvershadowx ! Hope you enjoy this update 3**

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><p>After class that day, Blaine had been a little concerned at the amount of time required to complete their project with all of Kurt's slightly overzealous plans. As the weekend approached, however, he found himself looking forward to working on their project; the more time he spent with Kurt, the less time he was stuck at home with just his parents. Why couldn't his father's business trips occur during a random school week, instead of interfering with holidays and birthdays?<p>

Plus, he enjoyed talking to Kurt and was glad for the opportunity to get to know him outside of Spanish class and the McKinley cafeteria. Blaine was fascinated by the different sides of Kurt that he had glimpsed so far; the sarcastic comments around his friends, his gentle caring for Brittany, and lately, his enthusiasm for musicals and costume design. The two had exchanged phone numbers after class with the intention of finding a time to get together over the weekend. Blaine, with no real friends or activities, was basically free as soon as the bell rang on Friday, but Kurt, with a social life and a girlfriend, didn't need to know that.

So when Kurt messaged him on Saturday morning to see if he was available later that day, Blaine made himself wait at least ten minutes before responding. In reality, he was already itching to get out of the house, reading over his own reply a few times to make sure it hinted towards working at Kurt's house, without being blatant and rude. Apparently that was unnecessary, as Kurt texted back immediately saying he had already set up his room for filming and had begun their costumes.

When he arrived at Kurt's that afternoon, slightly nervous about going over to the house of his only real friend, his Spanish partner greeted him at the door with a big smile. He was dressed in one of his typical school outfits: tailored pants and a striped shirt with his hair perfectly arranged. For some reason, Kurt's clothing always made Blaine wish he dressed a little better, or at least put some gel in his hair in an attempt to tame his curls.

"Hi, Blaine, come in! Thanks for coming. Do you want a drink or anything, or should we just head to my room? I have some stuff set up there already," Kurt said. "Or I can bring it to the kitchen or living room if you want, whatever," he added quickly.

"Um, your room is fine if you already set up there. Did you start working on it last night?" Blaine responded, taking the chance to peek into the other rooms on the first floor. He turned his focus back to Kurt, who, to his surprise, was blushing.

"Actually, I was out with Brittany yesterday, but I got up early this morning to work on the project. I'm pretty excited about our idea, and I guess I just got inspired."

"Awesome, I'm excited to see it!" responded Blaine immediately. Kurt broke out into another big grin, which seemed to be happening more and more when they worked on this project. "I'm sorry you spent so much time on it already, though, I could have come over earlier to help…" Blaine continued.

"No, no, it's fine," replied Kurt, walking towards the kitchen and opening a door leading down to a set of stairs. Blaine raised an eyebrow in surprise, but followed the other boy into a beautiful bedroom, complete with a couch and a television.

"You have the whole basement to yourself?" Blaine asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Kurt answered, as Blaine glanced around the room, missing the concerned look on the other boy's face. "I decorated it myself." Kurt's unease slowly turned to delight as Blaine continued looking around in astonishment, complimenting everything from the color scheme to the book shelves.

"And your parents let you have your own bathroom, too? I am officially jealous," Blaine joked, before seeing Kurt's smile turn to a frown as he turned away.

"Um, it's just me and my dad actually. My mom died when I was little."

Before Blaine could even respond, beyond his own frown and gaping stare, Kurt had straightened back up and said, "Okay, so let's start on this project. I put up a sheet on that side of the room for when we start to film, and I picked up some material for our costumes. But for now I figured we could flip through the _West Side Story_ songs and see which one works best for our voices, and then we can plan a skit around that."

Kurt grabbed his iPod and the two boys sat on the couch; Blaine was careful to leave a few inches of space between him and his partner as Kurt began to scroll through the songs. By the time they settled on the "Tonight Quintet" (the original stage version, of course) Kurt had migrated to sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch, as Blaine looked over his shoulder at their trusty notebook. They debated who would get to be the Shark, Kurt winning in the end due to his better speaking ability, not to mention his fashion sense, although Blaine was secretly relieved that he wouldn't have to speak as much Spanish. He joined Kurt on the floor as they went over the lyrics line by line, splitting the song between the two of them. Kurt moved to his desk to work on the translation, delegating Blaine to dictionary duty as he sat on the edge of the bed.

By the time Kurt joined Blaine on the bed to work on the script, it was almost six o'clock and Blaine's stomach was grumbling. He glanced over at Kurt, who was staring at the page in concentration, absentmindedly running the end of the pen along his cheek. His hair had fallen into his face and Blaine was struck with the sudden urge to brush the strands behind his ear. He blushed and instead looked behind Kurt's head at the clock on his nightstand. To his displeasure, he would have to leave soon; he had promised his mom he would be home for dinner. He didn't want to interrupt Kurt's train of thought, but he sighed and said, "I'm sorry, Kurt, but as soon as we finish the script, I'm gonna have to head home."

"Oh, that's fine!" exclaimed Kurt, as he scribbled a question mark along the margins next to part of the dialogue. He put down his pen and glanced at the clock, adding, "Wow, I didn't realize it had gotten so late! I can just finish up with this later on, don't worry about it." Blaine silently agreed about the time; he had rather been enjoying the afternoon with Kurt and was sad to see it end, especially when it meant returning to his own home. He didn't even bother arguing with Kurt about the rest of the translation; he had tried that multiple times that day to no avail.

"So, um, when do you want to keep working on it?" Blaine asked after a moment. He had always felt awkward about goodbyes.

"Well, I was kind of thinking tomorrow, if that's okay," Kurt replied. "I mean, I feel like we have good momentum going and I know it's not due quite yet but if you don't have any other plans-"

"Tomorrow would be great," said Blaine with a grin, cutting off the rest of Kurt's rambling. He had discovered that if he didn't jump in right away, the other boy would go on for hours. Not that Blaine generally minded, but in this case he was already on his way to being late for dinner. He had secretly been hoping they could meet again tomorrow, but hadn't wanted to assume Kurt was free; he easily could have had plans with Brittany or one of the glee kids.

"So… come back here tomorrow around the same time?" Kurt smiled back at him as he asked. Blaine nodded his consent and Kurt continued talking, listing the supplies he needed to bring for their video. Blaine half-listened to the other boy, making a mental note to find the video camera he had gotten for Christmas, but mostly he was focused on the way the light reflected in his partner's blue eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

When Blaine knocked on the Hummel's door the next day, he was surprised that it opened to a large man wearing a flannel shirt. "Um, hi, I'm here to work on a project with Kurt," Blaine stammered, looking at his feet.

"C'mon in, kid, you must be Blaine." Blaine looked up, shifting his bag to his other hand so he could give a proper handshake.

"Burt Hummel. It's nice to meet ya. Kurt hasn't stopped talking about you all weekend." Blaine managed a weak smile as he entered the house, putting down the bag to take off his jacket. Burt raised an eyebrow at the large duffel until Blaine explained, "Oh, that's my video camera and some clothes Kurt suggested I bring over. For the project, I mean!" Blaine reddened but Burt just shook his head and replied, "Don't let him get too crazy on you. He tends to go a little overboard on stuff like this."

"I think it's already too late," Blaine answered quietly, surprising a chuckle out of Kurt's dad.

"Good luck then," Burt answered, slapping his hand on Blaine's shoulder. "Let me know if you kids need anything." Blaine just nodded, this time giving the man a genuine smile, before grabbing the handles of the bag again and dragging it down the stairs.

Kurt was sitting on his bed reading over the notebook, and smiled up at Blaine as he entered the room. "I hope my dad didn't scare you off!" Kurt joked.

"He just warned me not to let you go too crazy with our project. I told him it might be too late," Blaine kidded, as he put his bag on the couch and began to unpack the supplies. After a few moments of silence, he looked up to see his partner staring down at the carpet with a frown on his face. Blaine scrunched his forehead in confusion and then mentally smacked himself.

"Kurt, that was a joke! I think our project is gonna be awesome and I'm so glad I ended up with you as a partner." Kurt looked back up at Blaine, inspecting his face for sincerity. Apparently he found it, as the frown disappeared and he exhaled loudly.

"I think I'll save my judgment on you as a partner until I've heard you sing," he responded with a smirk; Blaine's worry disappeared as Kurt's usual attitude returned. "But first, we should work on our costumes," he continued, walking over to his closet and opening the doors.

As he turned around, Blaine couldn't help but observe that Kurt's pants were much tighter than anything he'd worn before. He was also wearing an off-the-shoulder sweater in lieu of his normal simple button down or polo shirt. And then Blaine noticed the clothes hanging in front of Kurt in the closet; if Blaine thought today's outfit was unusual, it was nothing compared to some of the items in there, from buckles and bow ties, to bondage gear and even a beret.

"Why don't you ever wear those clothes?" Blaine blurted out without thinking. Kurt turned to look at him in surprise, opened his mouth, and closed it again when no words came out. He paused for a moment before saying carefully, "I used to, but I uh… eventually decided it wasn't worth the effort to put together complicated outfits for school every day." The boy shrugged and returned his focus back to the wardrobe, the only difference being the added tension in his shoulders.

Kurt grabbed a silky blue button down and walked back across the room, explaining, "Okay, so this is the shirt I'll be wearing. I made a great vest for you that will complement my outfit – without matching, of course, because we are sworn enemies, after all. And then we'll both have coordinating bandanas, too. Did you bring the clothes I asked?" Blaine just nodded and gestured to the open duffle bag, thoughts caught on how well that shirt matched with his partner's eyes. Kurt dug through the bag, commenting to himself on each item, before settling on a shirt that would apparently be sufficient.

Once Kurt was satisfied with their costumes, the two boys sat shoulder to shoulder on the couch and read over the script for their short skit to introduce the song. Kurt giggled at Blaine's failed Spanish pronunciations, and Blaine, in turn, laughed at Kurt's attempts to sound tough as he threatened the opposing gang member. After they both felt comfortable with the dialogue, Kurt said, "Alright, let me find our lines for the song and you can grab my iPod so we can listen to the original version a few times."

Blaine got up to comply with that order, returning to the couch after a moment. Kurt was still flipping through the notebook, so Blaine put his feet up and began scrolling through the mp3 player in search of their song. "Wow, you have a lot of musicals on here!" he commented, after passing what had to be the tenth Broadway soundtrack.

"Yeah, I, uh, really like musicals," Kurt responded casually. "That's why I was so excited when you suggested one of my favorites; honestly, I'm still a little upset that you thought of it before I did! Although, I don't know many other guys who would have agreed with the idea, anyways," he continued bitterly.

"_Rent_ is actually my favorite," Blaine offered, watching Kurt nod in fervent agreement. "We were going to perform one of their songs in chorus at my old school – I was actually going to audition for a solo before I, um, decided to transfer." He looked down at his hands as he finished speaking; with everything that had happened after the dance, he almost forgot how excited he had been to sing that song. Just another thing to add to the list of causalities from Huntsville, he thought bitterly.

"_Wicked_ is my favorite," Kurt said after a moment. "Rachel and I battled over 'Defying Gravity' earlier in the year, but in the end, she got the solo." Tension was thick in the air as both boys stared around the room, lost in unhappy memories.

"So I've been meaning to ask you," Kurt began with a cautious tone, and Blaine automatically shrunk back into the couch. "Why did you come to McKinley? Huntsville isn't exactly right next door."

Blaine sighed silently in relief; this question he knew how to answer. "Well, it was one of the only public schools around here to accept a student from another district, especially so late in the year. My dad really wanted me to go to this private school in Westerville, but it's pretty expensive and I didn't really want to be surrounded by stuck-up guys in blazers every day. I guess their a capella group is really good, though." And the zero-tolerance policy was very tempting, added Blaine to himself. He swallowed thickly before awkwardly suggesting, "So should we just run through the song?"

Kurt nodded and placed the altered lyrics in his lap as he began to sing. Blaine's jaw dropped at the other boy's voice; it was higher than he expected, but incredibly beautiful. He was so enchanted that he actually missed his entrance. Kurt faltered and looked over at Blaine. He seemed as if he was about to reprimand his duet partner, but instead he blushed as he caught Blaine's gaze and cleared his throat. Blaine snapped out of his trance and then it was his turn to blush.

"I'm sorry, but you just have such an amazing voice! I've never heard that range from a guy before- and I mean that in a good way!" he added as he saw Kurt grimace. "If you sing like that, I don't understand how you didn't get that _Wicked_ solo." He expected Kurt to smile, but instead the frown only deepened.

"It was complicated," he answered, looking over at the door. He glanced back at Blaine and paused for a moment before leaning in and saying, "Thank you for saying that though. I actually plan on going to New York after graduation – it's my dream to be on Broadway."

"Well, let's get you some more practice then!" Blaine answered with a smile. "I promise I'll sing my part correctly this time."

"You better, or I'm trading you in for a new partner," Kurt replied with a corresponding grin.

They had just finished running through the song for the third time when Kurt's phone rang from his nightstand. "Sorry, let me grab that – it's Brit." He scurried over to his bed and answered the phone, saying, "Hi Boo, what's up? Uh huh. Okay. No, I'm in New York City in the 1950's in the middle of a gang war," he continued sarcastically, rolling his eyes as Blaine muffled his laughter behind his hand. "No, Brit that – no, of course I'm not really in a gang, I just – it was a joke, Boo, I – Alright, I'm sorry. I'll talk to you later." He ended the call with a huff and not-so-gently returned the phone to the table. He paused for a few seconds with his hand over his face, before walking back to Blaine with a fake smile on his face.

"So, where were we? Should we go through the song once more before we start recording? You brought your camera, right?"

Blaine nodded before quietly asking, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," his partner answered, just as quietly. "At least I will be once the Sharks beat the Jets with a loud, theatrical number," he continued, voice a little stronger as he plopped back down on the couch, even closer to Blaine than he was before. Blaine held his breath as Kurt actually rested his head on Blaine's shoulder, peering down at the lyrics again. His heart beating impossibly fast, Blaine leaned into his partner and tried to focus on his verses, although he kept zoning in on every spot that their bodies were touching. Kurt wasn't usually this tactile, but if it made him feel better after that fight with his girlfriend, Blaine certainly didn't mind.

Kurt did seem to cheer up as they practiced the duet a few more times before changing into their costumes and attempting to record the video. It wasn't long before both boys were laughing again, exaggerating their dance moves and trying to fight with fake swords. By early evening, the video camera had been completely abandoned in favor of chasing each other around the room, belting out West Side Story songs at random.

When Burt came down to check on all the noise, he found his son red-faced and doubled over laughing, wearing a lopsided bandana in his uncharacteristically messy hair, as Blaine stood on the back of the couch and attempted to stab the other boy with his plastic dagger. Burt cleared his throat and both boys froze immediately; Blaine's eyes were comically wide as he dropped his weapon and slowly got down off the furniture. "I can see you boys are workin' very hard on your project," Burt said with a raised eyebrow, "but it's gettin' kinda late and you both have school tomorrow."

"Uh, yes, Mr. Hummel, sorry, sir, I'll be leaving soon, um, as soon as we clean up..."Blaine stuttered, looking around at the scattered props and notebook paper littering the room. Burt smiled as he replied, "No need to call me sir, kid. It was nice having you here this weekend." With that, Burt walked back up the stairs, but not before he heard his son and his new friend collapse on the couch in a fit of giggles.


	9. Chapter 9

As he followed Kurt through the crowded hallway later that week, Blaine tried to figure out how he ended up walking to glee club when he had promised himself he would stay invisible, even if that meant not making friends or joining any groups. Mr. Schue had given them another Spanish period to work on their projects, but because they were basically finished, Kurt had used the majority of that free time attempting to convince Blaine to join glee. Kurt's reasons ranged from having another guy to support his campaign for more show tunes and seeing Rachel's face when Blaine sang, to making more friends and gaining bonus points with their Spanish teacher. Blaine really did want to start singing again; the _West Side Story _skit over the weekend had reminded him how much he loved to perform, even if it was just for a stupid school assignment.

But if he was being honest, the main reason Blaine conceded to attend at least one meeting was to spend more time with Kurt. The two of them had a lot in common and Blaine had sincerely enjoyed their time together over the weekend. But part of him was afraid that their brief friendship would end with the assignment. Yes, it was probably irrational; Kurt seemed to have fun the past few days, too, and he wouldn't have invited Blaine to everything from lunch to glee club if he didn't at least moderately like the other boy's company. But Blaine couldn't keep from wondering when Kurt would get tired of him and move on; that's what had happened with the rest of his friends when he came out at Huntsville. And the one person who didn't stop speaking to Blaine ended up in the hospital, before disappearing entirely. Was it too much to ask for one friend to stick around?

Despite sitting in the cafeteria with half of the glee club, Blaine was still rather nervous to walk through the choir room door. The glee kids seemed to be a very tightly knit group and Blaine wasn't sure how well they would take to his intrusion. Kurt turned to face Blaine, grabbing both of his arms and saying, "Don't be nervous. They're going to love you. And I told you, you don't even have to sing today. Just sit next to me."

Blaine wasn't sure if Kurt looking into his eyes like that was really calming him down. It caused his heart to beat even faster, but he appreciated the gesture all the same. He took a deep breath and nodded. Kurt must have been waiting for his approval, as he gave Blaine one last reassuring smile before releasing his arms and opening the door.

Slowly the conversation came to a halt, and eleven pairs of eyes watched the two boys enter the room. Some were staring at Blaine in apparent delight, including Artie and Tina, who were waving enthusiastically. Others looked at him warily, due to mistrust or dislike; either way, Blaine made sure to avoid eye contact and just take the seat closest to Kurt. He ignored everyone else in the room, other than a small smile and nod of acknowledgement to Brittany, who was sitting on the other side of Kurt.

Before any of the students could say a word, Mr. Schuester walked out of his office to the front of the classroom. Blaine looked over at Kurt in confusion as the teacher immediately started explaining that week's assignment without a second glance at his new club member. As the teacher turned back around from the whiteboard, Kurt raised the hand that was not currently holding Brittany's and attempted to catch Mr. Schue's attention. When he finally glanced over at the boy, Mr. Schue exclaimed, "I'll get to your question in a minute, Kurt, but it looks like we have a new student!" Kurt rolled his eyes and lowered his arm, as Mr. Schuester smiled widely at Blaine. "Welcome to New Directions! What's your name?"

"Uh, it's Blaine… I'm in your seventh period Spanish class…"

"Oh, of course, of course," replied Mr. Schue, with an unconvincing chuckle. "Well, we're glad to have you here! New members are always welcome. So as I was saying, this week's assignment…"

Rachel's hand shot into the air across the room and she cleared her throat, not even waiting to be called on before declaring loudly, "How do we know that he's any good? Doesn't he have to audition? Even I had to audition this year, although we all know that was just a formality since I'm the female lead."

"Rachel," the teacher sighed, "we have never turned away a student that wanted to join."

"As the obvious leader of the group, I must insist-"

"Calm down, hobbit. He's hot, I say he can stay," drawled the dark-haired cheerleader next to Brittany.

Blaine blushed and quickly stammered, "Uh, I don't mind auditioning or whatever, but I don't have anything prepared." He made eye contact with the teacher as he continued, "Can I just let you know when I'm ready to sing?"

"That would be fine, Blaine," answered Mr. Schue, seemingly relieved that the students had worked it out amongst themselves.

"But Mr. Schue-" Rachel complained loudly, actually getting up out of her chair.

"Rachel, sit down," said Kurt firmly. "I've heard him sing and believe me, it's worth the wait." Rachel pursed her lips and plopped back down into her seat with her arms tightly crossed. Blaine was slightly concerned with the whispers that began after that statement, but mostly he was pleased that Kurt had defended him. And it was nice to hear that Kurt had been just as impressed with Blaine's voice as Blaine was with Kurt's. Blaine wasn't sure what to make of the Latina girl, though. It was nice that she had stood up for him, but the way she had been staring at him ever since was rather unsettling.

Apparently Blaine had a right to be nervous, because she promptly cornered him as soon as class ended. He immediately turned to Kurt for help, but his friend was busy attempting, and by the looks of it failing, to have a serious conversation with Brittany. Blaine helplessly faced the other girl, who introduced herself as Santana. "So new kid," she continued, "I've been craving some breadsticks. Hows about you meet me there at seven o'clock on Friday. You're paying." Blaine had no idea how this cheerleader had gotten the idea that they were going on a date, but he didn't know how to respond. He gaped at her for a second and she smirked, saying, "I can think of a lot better things to be doing with that pretty mouth of yours."

Blaine turned bright red and he swallowed nervously before saying, "Uh, you're very attractive but I, um, don't really want to date anyone right now and um, you're not really my type," he answered, quickly glancing over at Kurt, who was still occupied with his girlfriend. Understatement of the year, he thought to himself. He never imagined dissuading girls would be an issue with not declaring his sexuality at a new school!

"Oh, I'm not looking to date either," Santana replied, practically purring as she ran her fingers along the collar of his shirt. "Either way, you're buying me dinner. I'll see you at Breadstix on Friday." She patted his cheek and stared one last time at Brittany and Kurt before sauntering out of the room.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for all of the alerts and reviews! Special thanks to Bethany whose lovely review inspired this update! This is a very revealing chapter with lots more Santana... hope you all enjoy it! And as always, thanks for reading!**

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><p>Blaine had no clue what to expect when he pulled into the Breadstix parking lot on Friday night. Rather than driving all the way home after school and then driving back to the restaurant, he had spent the afternoon at Kurt's house with him and Brittany. If nothing else, at least this "date" had given him a reason to hang out with Kurt outside of their project, although he had sort of felt like the third wheel. Brittany had alternated between telling Blaine random facts about Santana, and trying to climb into her boyfriend's lap.<p>

Kurt had seemed surprised when Blaine told him about his dinner plans, but Blaine quickly reassured him that it had not been his idea in the slightest. When Blaine told him the full details of the choir room conversation, Kurt explained that Santana was always like that with the guys at McKinley, although she usually went for more of the jock type. Regardless, Blaine decided he would buy her dinner like she had requested (or more accurately, demanded), and politely explain that he didn't want to date her or do anything else with her.

He walked to the restaurant entrance, going over the script in his head, and spotted his date standing next to the door. "Right on time, new kid. Hurry up, I'm starving."

"Hello to you, too," he muttered as he followed Santana into the building.

They were seated right away at a booth and the girl didn't even look at Blaine; he followed her lead and simply perused the menu. Not a word was spoken until both of their orders were placed. After a moment, Blaine cleared his throat and began, "Um, so thanks for inviting me here tonight, but I'm still not going to date you – or do anything else with you," he quickly added, remembering her response the last time he had used that argument. "Like I said the other day, you're just not my type and-"

Santana smirked and interrupted him. "Let's just cut to the chase here, new kid. I'm well aware that your type doesn't have these," she said as she grabbed her boobs. Blaine didn't even have a chance to tell her that he did have a name before his jaw dropped. He looked away uncomfortably, glancing around the room to see if anyone else had noticed that lewd behavior. "But Brit is always hanging out with Kurt these days, and I didn't have any plans tonight, so I figured I would find my own baby gay to play with."

Once Blaine got over his initial shock of being outed so easily (and offensively), he sputtered, "Wait, how did you know that I'm…you know, gay?" He whispered the last words, glad that the booth next to them was empty.

"First of all, you didn't look twice at me or my girl Brit in our Cheerios skirts. Second, you looked more scared than turned on when I tried to seduce you the other day. And you haven't even checked out the girls tonight," she gestured to her chest again, "and I know for a fact that they look fabulous in this tank top. You're almost as bad as Hummel."

If Blaine's eyes were wide when she casually admitted she knew he was gay, it was nothing compared to the expression on his face when she mentioned Kurt. "Wait, what?" he replied loudly. "Kurt's gay? But… that doesn't make sense, he's dating Brittany. And how would you know, anyways?"

"Well a few months ago everyone knew. That was like Hummel's thing – he was the gay kid at McKinley." Blaine visibly winced; he knew how labels like that worked in high school, regardless of whether they were true or false.

"So he actually told you he was gay, then?" Blaine clarified.

"Well, no," Santana admitted. "I think he told Finn or Mercedes or someone. But it wasn't exactly a secret – his voice sounds like his balls never dropped and he wore pants even tighter than mine."

"Then how did he end up dating Brittany? I think I'm missing something here," Blaine asked, still confused about the boy Santana was describing and the Kurt he had gotten to know.

"What I'm missing is my unlimited Breadsticks," Santana said angrily, apparently unconcerned with finishing the Kurt story. She snapped her fingers until a waitress appeared with a large basket of bread.

She took a large bite before continuing. "No one really knows. One day he came in wearing a flannel shirt and singing Mellencamp and the next thing we knew he was dating Brit. At first she just wanted her perfect record of making out with every guy in the school, but now I think she actually likes Hummel," she finished with a shrug. "Thank God he gave up the trucker hats though," she added as she grabbed what had to be her fourth breadstick already.

"Then how do you know he's still gay? Maybe he was just confused, or at the very least bi…" Blaine countered, wondering if Santana would claw him if he reached for his own breadstick.

"Well, I love Brit, but she's not exactly the hardest girl to get with, hence the perfect record. And according to her, Kurt hasn't even gone for second base yet." Blaine opened his mouth to argue but Santana shook her finger and continued, "And it's not for lack of trying by Brit, so don't even try to tell me they just want to take it slow."

Blaine closed his mouth and tried to process all of the information he had just been given, from Santana knowing his secret, to hearing about Kurt's. He would find it hard to believe her story if he hadn't been so sure that Kurt was gay the first time he laid eyes on the boy. And it would explain the attraction between the two of them, as well as the wardrobe bursting with outrageous clothes and the iPod full of musicals. He was still mulling things over in his head when their food arrived. Suddenly he panicked and looked back up at Santana before blurting out, "You won't tell anyone, right?"

She took a bite of her spaghetti and smirked, saying, "What, about your massive boner for Hummel?"

Once again Blaine was rendered speechless; that had been happening way too often since he met this girl. He was very glad he had waited to take a sip of water because Santana's words would likely have caused him to spit it all over their basket of breadsticks, and she very well may have considered that punishable by death.

"Don't worry," she continued between bites, "I won't tell anyone that you're gay or that you're dying to get into Kurt's ridiculously tight pants. You're still paying for dinner though."

Blaine nodded and stared down at the table for a moment before saying quietly, "Of course. Thank you."

Santana watched him carefully across the table as Blaine picked at his food. He was still a little worried that someone at McKinley already knew about his sexuality, but even he had to laugh when Santana smirked and said, "Seriously though, the new kid crushing on the popular guy with the cheerleader girlfriend? You are one walk in the park away from a Taylor Swift song."


	11. Chapter 11

The following day, Blaine was lying on Kurt's bed, out of breath from laughing. He and his Spanish partner had just watched the final edit of their project video, which started with them seriously reading their lines, and got more ridiculous as they sang their song, ending with a dramatic plastic sword fight and Blaine faking his own death. He looked over at Kurt and felt his breath catch in his throat. He had never seen the other boy this happy and carefree; he was practically glowing and Blaine couldn't imagine anything more beautiful. Before he even knew what was happening, his mouth was moving and he heard himself say, "Kurt, are you really straight?"

Instantly Kurt's entire demeanor changed; the bubbly happiness of just a few seconds earlier was erased completely, replaced by a look of shock. Blaine saw flickers of anger and fear in Kurt's eyes, and he instinctively put his hand over his mouth, as if he could take back the words. It was too late, however, and Kurt responded carefully, "What a ridiculous question, you know I'm dating Brittany."

Blaine was already in this too deep, though, and wasn't going to let that evasive answer slide. "That's not what I asked, Kurt."

"Well maybe you shouldn't just go around asking people about their sexuality! It's personal and rude."

Blaine simply gave him a sad smile and moved to get off the bed. If he had just ruined his relationship with Kurt, he would rather leave as soon as possible. But as he turned away, Kurt continued talking very softly.

"You wouldn't understand," he started shakily. "I was bullied almost every single day for being gay, and no one cared. I was shoved into lockers, thrown into dumpsters full of trash, and called every homophobic slur in the book." He paused for a breath then continued, "When I started dating Brittany, just to put on an act for my dad, all of that stopped. I was treated the same as everyone else. Besides, Brit is sweet and I like hanging out with her. She doesn't judge me."

He exhaled loudly before adding, "Don't you ever just want to be invisible? I spent so much time trying to stand out and all I got for my efforts were bruises and tears. And it wasn't worth it anymore; it was easier and safer just to keep pretending."

Blaine looked over at Kurt as the boy sniffled and wiped a tear from his cheek. Blaine desperately wanted to tell Kurt that yes, he did know what that felt like. That it was the reason he came to McKinley in the first place, and that he had been in the exact same situation at Huntsville. And maybe they could talk about all of this and deal with their problems together.

But part of Blaine was still waiting for Kurt to run when he learned more about Blaine's past. And he was petrified to put himself out in the open like that, because all too many times he had gotten hurt. So instead, he focused on Kurt's problem and said, "But it's not the real you. You shouldn't have to completely change who you are just to avoid some bullies."

"I'm still the same person," argued Kurt. "Just a toned down, less fashionable, quieter version of myself."

Blaine sighed, ignoring the flashing "Hypocrite" sign in his head as he continued his attempts to give Kurt advice. He grabbed Kurt's hand on impulse before saying, "But I like the real Kurt that I've gotten to know in the past few weeks, and I wish you would be honest with yourself. You're talented and unique and you can't keep hiding that. You are so lucky to have friends that support you, and you shouldn't have to lie to them and especially not to Brittany."

Kurt's face had softened when Blaine complimented him, but soured again quickly when he mentioned his friends and Brittany. Kurt yanked his hand away and sat up on the bed, replying, "You want to talk about being honest, Blaine? Why don't you tell me the real reason you transferred? And not the bullshit about you getting into a fight – anyone who sees you could tell that isn't true. Did some tall jock look at you the wrong way and you went crying to mommy and begged to leave?"

Blaine's empathy for Kurt disintegrated as the other boy continued to throw accusations at him. Blaine should have stuck with his original plan of not trusting anyone and not getting involved. This is what happened when he let people get close enough to hurt him. Blaine clenched his fists and stared down at his lap. He tried to take steadying deep breaths and hold back his tears but all he could focus on was how he had thought that Kurt was different - that he wouldn't judge him or make assumptions about him, but apparently he was wrong. Kurt was just like everyone at his old school. The whole world was just an extension of Huntsville and Blaine would never be accepted and he couldn't handle it anymore. He stood up and glared back down at the boy on the bed.

"You want me to be honest, Kurt? You're not the only one who was bullied every goddamn day for being gay. Do you want to hear about how I got the crap beaten out of me for bringing another boy to a school dance? How I spent the night in the ER with a concussion and a black eye and a broken wrist?" Kurt was frozen in place as Blaine continued his tirade. "Do you want to know about how I heard Tyler crying and screaming next to me as they stomped on his face and broke his hand? And how I couldn't do anything because I was too busy getting kicked in the stomach so hard the doctors thought I had internal bleeding?" He took a deep breath and looked away before continuing in a low voice. "I know what it's like to want to be invisible, Kurt. Why do you think I came to McKinley? Then everyone in glee was so nice and I thought they wouldn't judge me, especially you, but I guess I was wrong." He stared back at the other boy one more time before finishing, "How's that for being honest, Kurt?"

Blaine grabbed his jacket and stormed up the stairs, long since losing the battle to hold back his streaming tears. He caught one glimpse of the other boy sitting on his bed with wide, watery eyes and his hand pressed over his mouth before Blaine slammed the door.


	12. Chapter 12

Blaine woke up groggily on Saturday night to the sound of his phone vibrating on his nightstand. He found four texts and a voicemail on his phone, all from Kurt. They ranged from long winded apologies, to defensive explanations for his reaction. Blaine just skimmed through them tiredly without letting them really sink in. After their confrontation, Blaine had essentially collapsed into his bed, refusing to even come out for dinner. He stared at his ceiling for hours, repeating their conversation over and over in his head.

Eventually his anger at Kurt faded and he felt more ashamed than anything else. Kurt may have spoken carelessly, but he was right about a lot of things. Blaine should have confided in his friend sooner, and he shouldn't have pushed Kurt about his own issue. As usual, Blaine had managed to screw up a good relationship. He had been so scared to lose Kurt that he hadn't been honest with him, which ironically caused him to mess things up anyways. Blaine had never been able to do anything right, from the kids at his old school, to his relationship with his father, and now Kurt. It seemed like everything he did hurt someone else or himself.

Even before dinner with Santana, he was curious to know more about Kurt, but now he wished he could take back the question that had apparently ruined everything. He was sure Kurt was only texting him out of pity; he probably felt bad for making fun of the kid that got beat up. Sympathy Blaine had plenty of; it was friends that he was painfully lacking. He was exhausted after an afternoon filled with his own analysis of his destructive tendencies, and he soon fell back into a fitful sleep.

When he woke up the next morning, he felt tired but refreshed. He had been holding in his secret for so long now and as painful as it had been to have that discussion with Kurt, it was refreshing to finally have it out in the open. And after such a restless evening, he was pretty sure there weren't any negative thoughts left to dwell on. Instead, he felt like he had a new perspective.

Kurt had been totally right that he wasn't being honest with anyone. Blaine had always reasoned with himself that it was for his own good, but lately that didn't feel true. Hiding himself and attempting to stay invisible hadn't worked at either school. When the trouble first started at Huntsville, his dad had encouraged him to blend in more and look how well that had worked out. So far at McKinley, he hadn't been beaten up, but he also hadn't succeeded at staying under the radar. Against all of his efforts, he had accidentally made friends and maybe even developed feelings for someone. But he still wasn't happy. He couldn't really remember the last time he had been happy, other than a few brief moments while working on his Spanish project these past few weeks.

What was that quote? Stupidity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results? Maybe it was time for Blaine Anderson to try something new. But unlike at his old school, he hoped this time he would have some support, from the glee kids and maybe even Kurt. Worst case scenario was that he got shot down for putting himself out there and he was sure it couldn't feel much worse than yesterday or his recovery after the dance.

His phone vibrated and instead of yet another message from Kurt like he was expecting, it was a text from Santana. "I heard u spent yesterday afternoon Hummel's. Did u 2 get ur gay on? Ur welcome."

Blaine winced as usual at her crude humor and bad grammar, but took a deep breath and immediately typed back, "Not exactly. I screwed up. We got into a big fight about what you and I discussed at dinner on Friday. I don't know what to do."

Blaine just rolled his eyes at her response. "Ooh so u finally figured out ur gay 4 each other? Juicy." Another text followed, reading "… R u ok, new kid?"

He decided this would be easier over the phone and quickly dialed her number, before he changed his mind. The old Blaine wasn't used to confiding in other people, or asking for help, but maybe that was part of his problem. As soon as she answered, he blurted out, "I have a name you know."

"Oh, I know, Blainey, but new kid is much more fun," she responded, and he could picture her smirk even through the phone. "So the big reveal didn't go so well with Hummel, I'm guessing?"

"Well," he stalled, trying to figure out how to explain the situation succinctly. "I may have pushed him about being honest with everyone, and then he gave me some attitude right back, and I… might have yelled at him and stormed out."

"Ah, the patented Rachel Berry move, nicely done, new kid," replied Santana. "So here's the thing about Hummel. He can be a bigger bitch than me, but usually he's just doing it to protect himself. Most kids at our school are real jackasses to him. He's not used to someone genuinely caring about him, especially not some curly-haired new kid." Blaine opened his mouth to protest but she was already continuing. "He'd gotten comfortable with the whole Brit arrangement and then you dropped in to shake everything up and make him question his decision." She took a breath before continuing; Blaine was sitting on his bed in shock, both that the cheerleader was talking so much, and at her logical explanation. "I'm not sayin' he should have said that stuff to you, but your reaction certainly didn't help the situation," she drawled.

"So what do I do now?" Blaine answered after a pause. "I feel terrible for yelling at him but I don't really know what I could say to make it up to him in a 160 character text message."

"Then become a real glee member and do it the New Directions way," she responded simply. "Sing."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Last update was the most reviews I've ever gotten on a chapter, so thank you so much for that! I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far. There will be 3 more chapters, plus an epilogue. Merry Christmas everyone! <strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note: The link for the song in this chapter can be found in my profile (and on my tumblr). As always, thanks for reading and reviewing! And hope everyone had a great Christmas/Hanukkah/vacation!**

* * *

><p>To say Blaine was nervous to see Kurt on Monday was an understatement. It was almost time for glee rehearsal and he felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Despite the many messages from the other boy, Blaine hadn't spoken to him since he stormed out of his house on Saturday afternoon. Blaine had never been good at communicating his emotions, and he wasn't going to trust a conversation this important to the phone. Even so, he couldn't believe he was planning to follow Santana's advice.<p>

After their phone conversation, Blaine had spent the rest of his Sunday attempting to find the perfect song. Thanks to the Taylor Swift comment at dinner on Friday, Blaine had hummed "You Belong With Me" the whole way home. If someone had asked him to sing to Kurt prior to Saturday's fight, he undoubtedly would have picked that song instantly. But after everything that had been said that afternoon, singing about cheerleaders and short skirts just didn't seem to convey the right emotion. Blaine really wanted the song to be an explanation for the way he had acted, an apology for not trusting Kurt sooner with his past, a promise to be more honest in the future, and a confession that he had somehow developed feelings for the other boy in the last few weeks, despite still having a lot to learn about each other. That was quite a tall order for a single song, but thanks to one of his parents' old records, he was pretty sure he found it.

But before he sang to Kurt, and really to the rest of the club as he hoped this would also count as his official audition, there was something else he needed to do that made him much more nervous than his performance. He stopped at the door to the choir room and put his shaking hands over his face. Like with Spanish class the period before, he had intentionally arrived last to avoid talking to anyone. He was having serious second thoughts about his plan when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to read a single word from Santana: Courage. He peeked through the small rectangular window in the door to see the cheerleader give him a small smile and nod. With that added boost of confidence from his friend (and how she went from coercing him on a date to being his closest confidant he may never understand), Blaine took one last deep breath and pushed open the door.

He forced himself to make eye contact with the other students as he walked directly to the front of the room, not even stopping to put his bag down on a chair. "Mr. Schuester, could I have a minute of your time please?" he asked firmly, standing tall even as his voice wavered. The teacher nodded and took a seat next to the kid with the Mohawk. Blaine dropped his bag next to the piano bench before facing his classmates.

"I'm finally going to sing for you guys, but first there's something I have to say." He took a deep breath, trying to remember the speech he had been reciting in his mind the entire day. "You have all been awesome since I transferred. I didn't really have any friends at my old school, and it was great to have people that were nice to me right away," he smiled at Tina before he continued, "and to feel accepted in your group. But I haven't been completely honest with you guys." He paused to take another breath and grasp his trembling hands behind his back.

"The real reason I transferred is because, well, because I'm gay." At this point Blaine let himself look up at the windows at the back of the classroom, not sure he could handle their initial reactions to his confession. "And I had a, uh... bad experience at my old school with some guys who, um, weren't okay with that. I ended up in the hospital and that's when I decided to transfer here." He finally looked down at the glee kids, and was relieved to find that none of them seemed disgusted or enraged. Instead, most of them were looking at him with sympathy. He hoped they would still view him the same way after he finished. He had spent most of the weekend weighing it over, and it was a risk he was willing to take.

"So, um, thank you guys for everything so far, and special thanks to the person who this song is for. He, more than anyone, deserves an apology and an explanation, and I thought this song said it better than I could." He gave a small smile, locking eyes briefly with Kurt, who seemed surprised but also intrigued. He looked a little less put together than usual, and Blaine wondered if the other boy had been struggling this weekend as much as he had.

Blaine promptly sat down at the piano and began to play, already losing himself in the notes.

_In every heart there is a room__  
><em>_A sanctuary safe and strong__  
><em>_To heal the wounds from lovers past__  
><em>_Until a new one comes along__  
><em>

Blaine exhaled before beginning the next verse, voice getting stronger as he continued to sing.

_I spoke to you in cautious tones__  
><em>_You answered me with no pretense__  
><em>_And still I feel I said too much__  
><em>_My silence is my self defense_

_And every time I've held a rose__  
><em>_It seems I only felt the thorns__  
><em>_And so it goes, and so it goes__  
><em>_And so will you soon I suppose__  
><em>

Blaine could feel tears gathering in his eyes from that thought, but he managed to keep playing.

_But if my silence made you leave__  
><em>_Then that would be my worst mistake__  
><em>_So I will share this room with you__  
><em>_And you can have this heart to break_

Blaine had never before sung with such sincerity, and he hoped Kurt could tell.

_And this is why my eyes are closed__  
><em>_It's just as well for all I've seen__  
><em>_And so it goes, and so it goes__  
><em>_And you're the only one who knows_

Blaine did have his eyes closed as he performed, not daring to look at his classmates, especially Kurt.

_So I would choose to be with you__  
><em>_That's if the choice were mine to make__  
><em>_But you can make decisions too__  
><em>_And you can have this heart to break_

Blaine sang that line with everything he had, still not quite believing that he was allowing himself to be so raw and vulnerable in front of a group of people he had only met a month ago.

_And so it goes, and so it goes__  
><em>_And you're the only one who knows_

He finished quietly, hoping Kurt really did understand how he was feeling and what he was trying to say with the lyrics. He knew it wasn't one of Billy Joel's better known songs, but it couldn't be more accurate for the current situation. He was startled out of his thoughts by loud applause, and looked around the room in surprise. Every single one of the girls and even a few of the boys were crying. Mr. Schuester nodded fiercely, saying, "That was wonderful, Blaine. I am very impressed by your voice and your passion. We would be proud to have you in glee club." This time it was Blaine's turn to tear up; even if he wasn't a huge fan of this teacher, it had been so long since someone had said they were proud of him. Blaine managed a weak, "Thank you," as he blinked away tears and took the vacant seat next to Santana. As Mr. Schuester continued talking, Blaine glanced at Kurt, who gave him a watery smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

Blaine thought he had been anxious before his performance, but sitting two chairs away from Kurt, waiting 42 agonizing minutes for Mr. Schuester to stop talking was even worse. He had spent most of the class staring over at the other boy, trying to figure out if he had liked the song. Blaine really hoped so, but Kurt kept a blank, almost bored expression while watching their teacher, not even glancing over at Blaine once. Blaine did notice, however, that Kurt was wearing a complicated looking jacket and knee-high buckled boots, which he hoped meant that Kurt had actually listened to what he was saying on Saturday, even if he hadn't reacted very favorably at the time.

Blaine didn't hear a word of their assignment that week as he sat next to Santana, tapping his foot restlessly until the bell finally rang. He pulled his planner out of his bag and aimlessly perused through it, focusing not on the words but on Kurt, who was scrolling through his phone. Suddenly someone appeared in front of Blaine's chair and he almost dropped the notebook.

"Dude, way to represent my Jewish homeboy!" exclaimed the boy with the Mohawk. He held up his hand for a high five, which Blaine tentatively returned. "I'll have to bring my guitar and we can jam sometime!" he added before he walked away. Blaine managed to smile at the other boy, glancing sideways at Santana who just shrugged. She looked over at Kurt and then winked at Blaine before saying, "C'mon Brit, let's go for a walk." The other cheerleader grinned at that suggestion and locked pinkies with Santana's outstretched hand before skipping out the door.

After a moment, Blaine cleared his throat and looked around the empty choir room before grabbing his bag and standing up to face Kurt, who had also gotten out of his seat.

"So I-"

"Here's the thing-"

The boys looked away and chuckled awkwardly as they both attempted to start talking at the same time. Blaine looked back up and nodded at Kurt, who took a deep breath and began speaking.

"I just wanted to say that the song was beautiful. I told everyone it would be worth the wait," he added with a half smile.

"Thanks," answered Blaine quietly, staring down at his feet. "Look, I'm really sorry about Saturday - I shouldn't have yelled like that and I had no right to question you - "

"No, I'm sorry," Kurt cut in. "I'm the one who pushed you and I feel horrible for - "

"You didn't know," protested Blaine. "It's my fault that I didn't tell you sooner and -"

"Well, either way I shouldn't have said that," argued Kurt. "And I apologize for not being honest with you earlier, too."

They fell silent for a moment, both still regretting their words that afternoon but relieved to clear the air.

Blaine took a step closer to Kurt and looked firmly into his eyes. "Kurt, basically the only time I've been happy since I came out is when I'm with you. I am so glad that Spanish project gave me an excuse to spend more time with you. You are amazing and," he paused to take Kurt's hand. "I want to be with you, Kurt. I know we have a lot more to talk about but -"

Kurt yanked his arm away with wide-eyes, and stared back down at Blaine's now empty hand. Blaine stayed frozen as Kurt blurted out, "Blaine, I'm sorry, I just, I can't..." and before Blaine could say a word, the other boy was gone.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: I'm sorry for the cliffhanger! I hate to keep you all hanging, but I probably won't be able to update for at least a few days because I will be away without a computer. But I promise everything gets resolved in the next chapter! Thanks for sticking with this story - I really appreciate all the reviews and alerts! <strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Happy New Year, everyone! This is the last chapter, but there will also be a short epilogue posted sometime in the next few days. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!**

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><p>After staring blankly at the door for what seemed like an hour, Blaine sunk back down into his chair and put his head in his hands. He knew there was a possibility that Kurt wouldn't return his feelings but he honestly thought the other boy felt the same way. He really cared about Kurt, but now it seemed like he had screwed everything up for the second time in less than 72 hours. Now not only had Blaine lost a potential boyfriend, but also his closest friend at McKinley… actually his closest friend anywhere. Maybe the risk wasn't worth it. Would it have been better to just apologize and not mention anything further? To just move on with their friendship and pretend that Blaine hadn't offered his heart via song? Maybe he had just moved too fast for Kurt. They really hadn't known each other for that long after all, and their first conversation following that fight on Saturday probably wasn't the best time to suggest a relationship.<p>

Blaine heard the door open and immediately lifted his head, convinced that it was Kurt coming to apologize and explain why he had run off like that. Blaine couldn't hide the disappointment on his face when instead he saw Tina and Artie. He tried to sit up straighter and force a smile, but judging by the other kids' expressions, they weren't fooled. Tina quickly walked over to one of the chairs and grabbed her forgotten sweater. She paused next to Blaine and put her hand on his shoulder, saying, "You sounded amazing today, Blaine! I'm so glad you decided to join."

Artie wheeled over and added, "Let us know if anyone gives you any trouble for being in glee, okay?"

"Yeah, we won't let anything happen to you here. I promise," finished Tina sincerely.

Blaine just nodded and tried to ignore the lump in his throat and the burning tears in his eyes that had been threatening to fall since Kurt left so abruptly.

Tina gave him one last sad smile and squeezed his arm before turning Artie's wheelchair and rolling him out of the room.

Blaine thought back to the aftermath of the Sadie Hawkins dance, and how the worst part hadn't been losing Tyler, but realizing that Tyler was the only person he could count on in the entire school. In spite of potentially alienating Kurt, Blaine could still rely on the rest of the Glee kids; at least this time he wouldn't have to deal with everything entirely on his own. He had Tina's kind smile and Artie's fist bumps and Santana's sarcastic comments and maybe even that Mohawk kid's guitar jamming. Getting rejected by Kurt still was painful, but fortunately, it wasn't the end of the world.

Blaine wiped his tears and picked up his bag again, finally heading out the choir room door himself. He had just passed the principal's office when he heard loud footsteps behind him and a familiar voice yelling, 'Wait! Blaine, please!" He felt his heart catch in his throat, not daring to believe his ears. He slowly turned to see the familiar brown hair and blue eyes chasing him down the hall. Kurt took a moment to catch his breath, leaning one arm against the nearest set of lockers. Blaine just stared pointedly behind the other boy, not looking at his face.

"Blaine, I know you're upset but please let me explain. I know I shouldn't have run out like that, but I just couldn't hear those words without talking to Brittany first."

That was enough to shock Blaine into looking down at Kurt and saying, "Wait, what?" before he could catch himself.

"I know that my relationship with her was mostly just for show, but I couldn't go around admitting my feelings for other people while I was still dating her. She wouldn't understand and I didn't want to hurt her."

Blaine must have heard wrong, because he thought Kurt just said his feelings for other people. Did that really mean…?

Kurt looked at him with a worried expression. "Blaine… I'm saying that I want to be with you, too. I honestly didn't think someone like you existed, at least not in Ohio. I was perfectly happy just surviving high school and keeping up the Brittany façade for as long as possible. It was worth giving up wearing my favorite outfits and reading Vogue during study period. Then you came along, and for the first time in awhile I felt like I could be myself again. And you showed me that maybe it would be worth standing out if it meant I could be with you."

Blaine couldn't believe what he was hearing. He probably looked like an idiot, with his jaw hanging open and his bag dropped by his feet in the middle of the hallway, but he didn't care. He had gone from thinking Kurt would never speak to him again to hearing the boy confess that he felt the same way and then some.

"Blaine, please say something." Kurt's trembling voice cut into Blaine's thoughts. "I hope you can forgive me for running out earlier and for Saturday and – " He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence because Blaine's mouth was on his, and Blaine's hand came up to cup the side of his face. Kurt's eyes widened at the sudden change but after a moment he grabbed Blaine's shirt and kissed him back, regardless of the fact that they were still in their homophobic high school.

After a few seconds, Blaine pulled back with a smile and a shocked expression; he really had just meant to tell Kurt that he felt the exact same way and instead had attacked his lips. He blushed and rubbed his hand in his hair as he looked away. He heard a bang and looked over quickly to see Kurt drop his hand against the locker; Blaine was pleased to note that the other boy's face matched his in redness and in the size of his grin.

"I guess that answers that question," said Kurt, slightly out of breath.

"I've never been very good with words," replied Blaine shyly.

"Maybe you should try that again just to make sure," answered Kurt, his eyes sparkling. Both boys were leaning in when a loud cough came from somewhere behind them. Blaine jumped and turned, expecting to come face to face with an angry football player. Instead, it was his two favorite cheerleaders; Santana looked exceptionally pleased with herself as she said, "Well, I see you two worked out your little issue."

"I told you Blaine was a dolphin, too," Brittany added. "And dolphins should stick together," she said with a serious nod.

Blaine answered, "You know, I think that sounds like a great plan." He smiled over at Kurt, and then his face fell and he turned back to Brit. "Oh my gosh, I'm really sorry, Brit, I didn't mean to steal Kurt from you or anything, I just-"

"Oh, it's okay!" she replied calmly. "Mostly I just wanted my perfect record. And his hair smells nice. Oh and he's a good kisser!"

"I think he just found that out for himself," Santana drawled.

"Thanks, Brit," answered Blaine, his face coloring even more at Santana's comment.

"Besides, I always knew Kurt liked t-shirts more than short skirts," the blonde added with a shrug.

Santana just chuckled and said, "Let's leave these lovebirds alone, Brit. See you gays later," she added with a wave as they walked away, Brit wearing a confused expression and whispering, "I thought they were dolphins, not birds…"

"Um, so where were we…"Blaine asked awkwardly, turning back to face Kurt.

"Well, I was just about to ask my new boyfriend if he wanted to come home with me and work on our Spanish project," Kurt said with a smirk. "And speaking of t-shirts, we still really need to work on your wardrobe if I'm going to be seen with you in public," he added, putting his hand on his chin and surveying Blaine's current outfit.

"… But we already finished the video," Blaine responded slowly, not understand what Kurt was getting at, and honestly not paying much attention to anything that was said after "boyfriend".

"Yes, but my dad doesn't have to know that right away," Kurt replied, bring his focus back to Blaine's face. "Just like he doesn't have to know that I dumped Brittany and stopped pretending to be straight."

"But I thought this was about being honest?" asked Blaine.

"Not if being honest means having to leave the bedroom door open and not getting to hang out with you alone," answered Kurt.

Blaine's eyes widened as he pictured himself on Kurt's couch in a far more compromising position than the last time his dad had discovered them.

"Oh! Yes, that Spanish project will probably take the rest of the semester to finish. Maybe even some time over the summer," Blaine added quickly. "And we have to practice our next duet, of course, and-"

Kurt laughed and quickly glanced around the still empty hallway before silencing Blaine with another kiss. He grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the exit, saying, "C'mon, Romeo. Let's get out of here. I have the perfect song idea for Regionals and we should start practicing right away."

Blaine stole one more kiss before grabbing his bag and heading down the hallway, hand in hand with his boyfriend.


	16. Epilogue

Blaine took a deep breath as Rachel curtsied to the cheering crowd. The lights dimmed as she stepped back to join the rest of New Directions on the risers. He gave a weak smile to his boyfriend, who nodded at him reassuringly from a few feet away. Blaine straightened his shoulders and stepped forward as the opening guitar notes began to play. A spotlight shone down on him and he started to sing.

_You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset.__  
><em>_She's goin' off about something that you said,__  
><em>_'Cause she doesn't get your humor like I do._

A second spotlight shined on Kurt as he also stepped away from the rest of the group and began the next verse.

_I'm in my room, it's a typical Tuesday night.__  
><em>_I'm listenin' to the kind of music she doesn't like,__  
><em>_And she'll never know your story like I do._

Blaine took over the next part as Santana and Brittany moved forward, dressed in their Cheerios uniforms. 

_But she wears short skirts,__I wear t-shirts.__  
><em>_She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers,__  
><em>_Dreamin' 'bout the day__when you wake up and find__  
><em>_That what you're looking for has been here the whole time.__  
><em>

As they reached the chorus, the stage lights rose and the rest of the glee club joined in the song.

_If you could see that I'm the one who understands you,__  
><em>_Been here all along so why can't you see,__  
><em>_You belong with me.__  
><em>_You belong with me._

Kurt started the next verse, strutting across the stage and smirking as he sashayed past Blaine, who was doing his best not to look at Kurt's ass in those tight pants.

_Walkin' the streets with you and your worn-out jeans,__  
><em>_I can't help thinking this is how it ought to be,__  
><em>_Laughing on a park bench thinkin' to myself,__  
><em>_"Hey isn't this easy"_

Blaine followed Kurt as he sang the next verse, exaggerating his facial expressions and pointing towards Brittany at the appropriate moments.

_And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town,__  
><em>_I haven't seen it in awhile since she brought you down.__  
><em>_You say you're fine,__I know you better than that.__  
><em>_Hey, whatcha doin' with a girl like that?_

They sang the next verse together, walking back towards center stage where Santana and Brittany were dancing and singing back-up. 

_She wears high heels, I wear sneakers.__  
><em>_She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers,__  
><em>_Dreamin' 'bout the day when you wake up and find__  
><em>_That what you're looking for has been here the whole time._

The rest of New Directions stepped down off the bleachers and surrounded them on the stage as they jumped in again for the chorus.

_If you could see that I'm the one who understands you.__  
><em>_Been here all along so why can't you see__  
><em>_You belong with me?__  
><em>

Kurt walked to the middle of the group as he belted out the next set of lyrics.

_Standing by,__  
><em>_Waiting at your back door,__  
><em>_All this time how could you not know__  
><em>_Baby, you belong with me__  
><em>_You belong with me.__  
><em>

Brittany grabbed Kurt and began to dance next to Blaine and Santana during the instrumental break. The rest of the glee club partnered up behind them and joined in their complicated routine, the girls' skirts floating up in the air as they spun. They all continued to dance as the four in the center separated and Santana sang the next few lines, still holding Blaine's arm.

_Oh, I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night.__  
><em>_I'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're 'bout to cry._

Blaine smiled at Santana before jumping in to complete the rest of the bridge. He slowly approached Kurt in the center of the stage as he sang passionately.

_I know your favorite songs,__  
><em>_And you tell me 'bout your dreams.__  
><em>_Think I know where you belong,__  
><em>_Think I know it's with me.__  
><em>

Kurt quietly continued the song, voice growing stronger as he stood only a few feet away from his boyfriend.

_Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you,__  
><em>_Been here all along so why can't you see,__  
><em>_You belong with me._

Santana and Brittany linked arms with the two boys as they joined for the following part, one standing on either side of the couple.

_Standing by,__  
><em>_Waiting at your back door,__  
><em>_All this time how could you not know__  
><em>_Baby, you belong with me.__  
><em>_You belong with me.__  
><em>

And then the whole group was standing around them, holding on to each other's arms and shoulders as they loudly finished the song together.

_You belong with me.__  
><em>_Have you ever thought just maybe,__  
><em>_You belong with me?__  
><em>_You belong with me._

Blaine locked eyes with Kurt as they sang the last line. The other boy was smiling wider than Blaine had ever seen before, and Blaine wondered if his eyes were shining as much as his boyfriend's, or if it was just the way the stage lights were angled. And then he was snapped out of his thoughts by Santana crushing him in a sideways hug. He managed one glance at the crowd on their feet before Kurt flung his arms around his neck and buried his face in Blaine's shoulder. Brittany was wrapped around all three of them, and soon the entirety of New Directions was just one mass of arms and smiles. Blaine focused on the feeling of Kurt's body pressed against him tightly as the group somehow maneuvered their way off the stage.

Everyone was still congratulating each other loudly as Rachel walked over to the pair of boys. "While your performance wasn't nearly as emotional as my heartfelt rendition of 'Fifteen'…" she paused for a moment and then broke into a smile before continuing, "You both sounded fantastic!" The boys smiled back at her, Kurt accompanying his with a dramatic eye roll. "I'm going to hug you guys now," she said, wrapping one arm around each of them and squeezing tightly.

"I'm so glad you joined us, Blaine!" she said, turning towards him. "Of course, next competition you and I will have the duet because we have the strongest voices in the club. I've already started a list of options, color coordinated by year and original singer…"

"Hey, Hobbit," called out a female voice from somewhere in the group. "Mercedes thinks you were flat on that second verse of your song."

"What, I never said that…" protested another voice in the crowd.

"Well, that is just ridiculous," answered Rachel as she stomped away. Blaine caught a glimpse of Santana winking at him before she ducked out of the way to avoid Rachel's wrath.

Kurt sighed in relief and leaned against Blaine. His large show grin had been replaced by a softer, more subtle look of contentment. As the rest of their friends began to debate the talent of the other groups in their division, Blaine caught his boyfriend's eye and returned the blissful smile. Blaine knew they were both thinking the same thing; regardless of how they placed in the competition, they had each other and that definitely beat a lousy trophy.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Hi everyone, thanks so much for sticking with this story! I hope you enjoyed it (I told you it would end much happier than Lost and Gone Forever!) I have really appreciated every single one of your alerts and reviews, and I can't believe how many people have been reading my little fic! I am heading out very soon for my trip to NYC to see Darren on Broadway, but thanks again for your support and have a lovely rest of your week!


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